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The Best Way to Learn about Coffee? Single-Origin Beans

Coffee tasting notes can feel abstract. The best way to determine out individual preferences — or merely parse out what a particular region’s coffee tastes like — is to sample single-origin brews. Atlas Coffee Club, a ’round-the-world coffee subscription service, sources high-quality beans from established importers and through direct trade connections with farms both large and small; the roasting is also conducted in-house. Included with each bag are tasting notes and a recommended brew method.

Toying with brew methods further exposes customers to the nuanced flavors each region’s beans have to offer, and makes clear how different techniques can alter the taste and body of a coffee. Atlas recommends that its Ethiopian coffee be brewed as a pour-over, but it makes for a fantastic cold brew as well.

Each bag celebrates its place of origin too: “Our coffee bag designs are inspired by something specific to each country,” explains Atlas Executive Creative Director Jordan Rosenacker. “Our Costa Rican bag, for example, was inspired by la caretta, or oxcarts, used to transport coffee. Each family’s cart had a unique design, like a license plate, so they could identify the owner.”